Walking Dead supervising producer Scott Gimple is nearing a deal to succeed Glen Mazzara as the AMC hit’s new showrunner, TVLine has learned.

Gimple, whose previous writing credits include NBC’s Chase and ABC’s FlashForward, joined Walking Dead as a producer in Season 2 and was promoted to supervising producer for the current third season. He has penned five Dead episodes, including this season’s “Hounded.”

His new appointment takes effect at the start of the just-ordered fourth season.

In December, AMC (which declined to comment for this story) announced that Mazzara was stepping down at the end of Season 3 over creative differences.

It was the second major behind-the-scenes shake-up to rock Walking Dead during its relatively short, phenomenally successful life. Early into the show’s second season, Frank Darabont was fired as showrunner. His exit was also the result of creative differences.

Walking Dead is set to return with the second half of Season 3 on Sunday, February 10.